Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an integrated semiconductor device comprising a Hall effect current sensor.
Description of the Related Art
As is known, it is frequently desired to accurately measure currents flowing in conductors, e.g., in conductive wires or structures provided in integrated electronic circuits both for detecting appropriate electrical quantities, correlated to the current flowing in the integrated electronic circuit, and for monitoring correct operation of the electronic circuit.
To this end, various solutions have been proposed.
In particular, the use of Hall sensors has already been proposed for measuring the current flowing in a wire, such as a coil, the sensor being able of generating a magnetic field correlated to the current in the wire.
These sensors exploit the well-known Hall effect, whereby, if current flows through a conductor immersed in a magnetic field, a transverse force is exerted on the charge carriers in motion in the conductor and this force tends to “push” the charge carriers onto one side of the conductor. This effect is particularly evident in a thin flat conductor. Accumulation of charges on the sides of the conductor causes a measurable voltage across the conductor and thus represents a measurement of the current flowing in the wire.
Known solutions involve, however, large dimensions and thus cannot be integrated. Furthermore, they do not enable measurement of currents flowing within an integrated circuit.